Concert Review: The Captain of Quirk

The New York Philharmonic celebrates Carl Nielsen's 150th.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

He's 150! Birthday boy Carl Nielsen was féted Monday night by the New York Philharmonic.
Photo from CarlNielsen.org.

Sometimes the best birthday parties are the intimate ones. On Monday night, members of the New York Philharmonic gathered at SubCulture, the basement performance space on Bleecker Street, to celebrate the 150th birthday of Danish composer Carl Nielsen. The occasion also marked the conclusion of The Nielsen Project, music director Alan Gilbert's plan to record and release most of the composer's major orchestral works on the Da Capo label.

Concert Review: A Very Different Drummer

The New York Philharmonic completes its Nielsen cycle.
by Paul J. Pelkonen

Alan Gilbert in flight. Photo by Chris Lee © 2014 The New York Philharmonic.

Carl Nielsen is Denmark’s most famous composer. His six symphonies are only occasionally encountered in the concert hall, odd and occasionally obtuse in their construction. At once too strange for the standard repertory and too conventional for the modernists of the 20th century, these works are beloved in Scandinavia and revered by fearless musicologists, conductors and audience members lucky enough to hear them played live.

Concert Review: Half Nielsen

Alan Gilbert advocates for the concertos of the Danish composer.
(Reposted from The Classical Review.)
by Paul J. Pelkonen

An advocate for Nielsen: conductor Alan Gilbert.
Photo by Chris Lee © 2012 The New York Philharmonic.

In the last three seasons, New York Philharmonic music director Alan 
Gilbert has championed the works of  Carl Nielsen (1865-1931) best
 remembered for his six symphonies. Wednesday night’s concert at Avery Fisher Hall focused
 on Nielsen’s concertos: specifically the 1926 Concerto for Flute (featuring soloist Robert Langevin) and 
the earlier Concerto for Violin with soloist Nikolaj Znaider.

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